BAY CITY, MI — The owner of a Laundromat in Bay City’s Columbus Avenue Business District has hired an attorney to push city officials to reveal information on how they came up with a water bill adjustment of more than $18,000.

Earlier this month, Columbus Laundromat, 1000 Columbus Ave., received notice from the city that a clerical error had been made for the past 16 months, resulting in water bills for the business to be about $1,000 less each month. City officials caught the error the week of April 7 and notified Kim Haken, manager of the Laundromat, that the business owed about $18,000 for water.

Haken said her father, Richard Haken, the owner of the business, hired attorney Peter Jensen, who has offices in Saginaw and Vassar. The attorney, she said, has sent a letter to the city, requesting water usage records from Jan. 1, 2012.

“We want some kind of proof or calculation on how the city came to this amount,” said Haken. “We want water and sewer readings.”

Jensen said he outlined three points in his letter to the city.

"One, we owe some money, but we want to know how the city figured out how much," he said. "Two, we potentially owe less, because now we're not sure if the bills were ever accurate. And three, even if we owed the worst case scenario — the $18,000 — how many years is the city going back? It's incredible that the city can't come up with proof."

City officials said they are still collecting information on the business’ water bills.

Bay City Manager Richard M. Finn

“If you look at the previous 12 to 18 months of the average amount of water they used before the error, we think it’s a pretty fair comparison,” said City Manager Rick Finn, adding he was unaware of the business hiring a lawyer.

The city’s attorney has yet to be involved in the dispute, said Finn.

Owning up to its error, the city has offered to reduce the bill by 10 percent and allow the business to pay off the bill over an 18- to 24-month period at zero percent interest.

According to a recent MLive poll, 51 percent of readers who voted said the city should forgive the bill due to the clerical error; 26 percent of readers said the business should take the city's deal and pay it off over 18-24 months; 11 percent said the city should give a higher discount; and 12 percent said the 18-24 month timeline should be increased. More than 430 readers voted on the poll.

Haken has said that before having a new water meter installed at the business in November 2012, monthly water bills fluctuated between $1,800-$2,800, depending on business. One month before the meter was installed, the Laundromat had a bill of $2,601, according to water bills obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Haken thought the new water meter was the solution to her high water bills and watched bills drop as low as $871 for the month, according to city records.

During the same time period, however, Totally Clean Coin Laundry, a competitor of Columbus Laundromat at 1005 N. Henry St., averaged water bills between $2,200 and $2,500 per month.

Haken said the business’ attorney is charging $200 per hour for legal services.

“If you have to spend $1,000 to save $18,000, then it’s a good deal,” she said.